How to lose belly fat effectively and healthily

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Belly fat occurs when excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and abdomen has built up to the extent that it is likely to have a negative impact on health. For many, the belly fat is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s the deeper fat stores that form in and around your internal organs than can cause some serious health problems if it isn’t reduced.

Losing belly fat is important, not only for appearance and vanity but also for your health with research showing the significance of belly fat and its role in the risk of acute myocardial infarctions, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol as well as other inflammatory conditions.

Causes of Belly Fat

Women are more likely to gain excess belly fat, especially deep inside the belly as they go through perimenopause and into menopause when their menstrual cycle ends. That’s because as oestrogen levels drop, body fat is redistributed from the hips, thighs, and buttocks to the abdomen.

For men, the natural reduction in testosterone as they age means excess calories are often stored as visceral fat and thus the accumulation of belly fat occurs.

Stress and the cortisol connection contribute to belly fat as well. Research findings support the hypothesis that cortisol secretion might represent a connection between stress and abdominal fat distribution.

Abnormal Fats vs Normal Fats: Not All Fats Are Equal

The first type of body fat is the structural fat which fills the gaps between various organs. Structural fat also performs important functions such as bedding the kidneys in soft elastic tissue, protecting the coronary arteries and keeping the skin smooth and taut.

The second type of fat is the essential fat reserves. This is the normal reserve of fuel used when the body is faced with immediate dietary insufficiencies such as regular low-calorie diets. Such normal reserves are localized all over the body.

Both structural and essential fat are normal, and even if the body stocks them to capacity this can never be called obesity.

The third type of fat, belly fat, is entirely abnormal and is non-essential.

It is the accumulation of this fat which creates the dreaded belly fat. This abnormal fat is also a potential reserve of fuel, but unlike the normal reserves, it is not available to the body in a nutritional emergency or during most diet programs. This third type of fat is the causative factor in health problems associated with belly fat.

It is difficult to remove and adds to further fat stores in the body due to its ability to slow down the metabolic rate.

Interventions that Reduce Belly Fat

The number one rule in reducing belly fat: DO NOT start by decreasing your fat intake. Not all fats are bad fats. In fact, eating certain fats can help you reduce belly fat.

Good fats that you need to add to your eating regime include avocados, olives and other sources of Omega-3. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found that eating three 5-ounce servings of salmon per week for four weeks as part of a low-calorie diet resulted in approximately 2.2 pounds more weight loss than following a diet that didn’t include fish.

Dan Mendilow shares some fantastic points on what you need to do to turn your body into a belly-fat burning machine by replacing a few unhealthy foods with healthy foods. Dan goes on to explain the importance of eating certain fats and why you should not be shunning them in your quest to lose your belly fat:

• Studies have shown that drinking diet drinks greatly contributes to belly fat. By drinking sugar-sweetened beverages excess sugar, mostly due to the large amounts of fructose present, can lead to increased accumulation of fat in the belly.
• Apple cider vinegar is a great way to kick-start your metabolism and get belly fat moving. “One theory is that the acetic acid in the vinegar produces proteins that burn up fat,” explains Pamela Peeke, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and author of Fight Fat After 40.
• With stress and the cortisol connection, your body starts to produce more insulin as you age, since your muscle and fat cells aren’t responding to it properly. With the increase in insulin comes fat storage, especially around your belly. A diet high in protein may protect you against insulin resistance, thus decreasing belly fat.

Exercise

Skip the crunches. Abdominal crunches and sit-ups should build strong muscles, but you might not see them under belly fat. In fact, crunches might actually make your stomach look bigger as you build up thicker abdominal muscles. Instead, if you strengthen your back muscles, your posture will improve and pull in your belly.

Side stretches

Stand up straight, with your feet hip-width apart. Put your right hand on your right hip, and lift your left arm straight up, with the palm facing right. Keeping your legs centered, lean to the right and “reach” over with your left arm, stretching your left side. Repeat 3-5 times on each side.

Squats

Stand with your feet about 8 inches (20 cm) apart. Extend your arms in front of you and do four sets of 15-20 squats.

Planks

Get in the push-up position, but rest on your elbows and forearms. Pull your stomach muscles in tight, keeping your back, neck, and bottom in a straight line. Hold this position for 30 seconds or as long as possible. Rest and repeat 3-5 times.

Check Your Progress and Remain Persistent

Calculate your waist-to-hip ratio on a regular basis. Your waist-to-hip ratio (the circumference of your waist divided by the circumference of your hips) can be a good indicator of whether you need to lose belly fat in the first place and how successful your interventions are.

• Wrap a soft tape measure around the thinnest part of your waist at the level of your navel. Note the measurement.
• Wrap the tape measure around the widest part of your hips, where you can feel a bony protrusion about 1/3 of the way from the top of the hipbone. Note the measurement.
• Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.
• Know what’s healthy. Women should have a ratio of 0.8 or below; men should be at 0.9 or lower.

Lastly, team up with a friend as you chart your progress. Make sure to team up with someone who is just as motivated as you are. Join a walking club in your area with people around your age and ability. Get your family on board. Do whatever it takes to get yourself motivated and on track with the new you.

Looking rounded is not something that you would like. With increased belly fat, you appear all round, which can only make things difficult for you. Besides, it also has many health risks. Belly fat is considered as one of the most important risk factor for many lifestyle disorders. So, take charge of your health now. Know some of the worst and the best foods for belly fat and make healthier food choices for a healthy life.

Worst Foods for Belly Fat

These ‘belly bullies’ will certainly attack your digestive system, throw the bacteria out of the system cause inflammation and build up fat in the body.

So here we list some worst foods for belly fat.

Carb-Dense Foods

Foods rich in simple carbohydrates severely alter the gut balance and are one of the worst foods for belly fat. Foods rich in carbohydrates have very high ratio of carbs which is relative to their weight. For instance, a small potato might be considered high in carbs by many but the truth is it has only 23% carbs, the rest being water only. Similarly a plain cake of rice, though weighs only 9 grams but has in store almost 80% of the carbohydrate. So foods rich in heavy carbohydrates like white rice, wheat, cereals, pretzels, bagels, etc. are actually harmful for belly and they play a great role in buildup of belly fat.

Unhealthy Fats

Fats such as trans-fat, omega 6-fatty acids and saturated fats reduce metabolism eventually creating layers of belly fat. Trans-fats are mostly found in processed and packaged food items whereas saturated fats are seen in high fat meat, full diary product, candy products. Omega 6-fats are found in grape seeds oil, soya bean oil, safflower oils and sunflower oils. Such unhealthy fats are the worst foods for belly fat and are best avoided.

High Lactose and Milk Products

Lactose is a form of sugar found in milk and all the milk related items. This lactose is broken down in the body by an enzyme known as lactase. For some, this may cause digestive problems ultimately affecting metabolism and must be taken with caution. It is found in items like milk, regular yogurt, soft cheese and the dairy base desert. While these may be amongst the worst foods for belly fat, choosing low fat milk products in small quantities can be taken by those who can tolerate them.

Excess Fructose

Fructose is commonly found in fruits like apple, mangoes and watermelons, certain vegetables like sugar knap peas, asparagus. High amount of fructose is found in items such as apple, honey and asparagus is not good if you wish to reduce your belly. While these foods are worst for belly fat, they also affect the digestive system and can worsen symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Best Foods for Belly Fat

If you wish to have a flat belly, you need to focus on the best foods for belly fat. These foods assist in boosting up your metabolism and repairing an imbalanced gut flora, which relieves inflammation.

Here are some of the best foods for belly fat:

Antioxidants Rich Vegetables

Being high in vitamins, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and being extremely low in fat, vegetables are best foods for belly fat. In veggies too, it is important to choose those that boost your metabolism and are low in carbs. It is best to choose veggies like leafy green vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard etc., cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes and potatoes. They are highly rich in fiber and perfect for the gut.

High Fiber Foods

When choosing carbs, it is important that you choose high fiber, complex carbs only. Fiber rich foods are one of the best foods for belly fat. Replace all simple carbs like breads, pasta and rice with whole grain bread, pasta and brown rice. Include oats, barley, quinoa, etc. in your diet.

Tummy Trimming Foods

Many sweet foods are highly rich in glucose than fructose and they effectively help in shredding down the extra belly fat. These fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals and totally low or having zero fat content and are considered as best foods for belly fat. These are bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, grapes, papaya, strawberries, pineapple and honeydew.

Lean Proteins

Protein are a powerhouse and low on saturated fats, making them the best foods for belly fat. Lean protein is found in eggs, fish, lean cut portions of beef, seafood, tofu and also tempeh. However, it is important to avoid packaged foods and ready meals to avoid saturated fats. Also, lean proteins are highly beneficial when they are cooked the right way, by steaming, grilling or baking, rather than deep frying.

Nuts and Seeds

Seeds and nuts are great sources of energized protein items. They are ready sources of low fermentable and anti- inflammatory fats in the body. These are effectively found in almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pine nuts, flaxseed, pumpkin, sesame seeds, chia seeds and sunflower seeds.

Greek Yogurt

Low fat yogurt has to be included in the list of best foods for belly fat. It is a form of probiotic which keeps your digestive tract healthy and boost metabolism.

Table of Contents

To be completely honest with you the best exercises to lose belly fat aren’t going to be a bunch of sit-ups nor crunches. But it’s going to be the really tough exercises that make fat burn and muscle grow.

Full body exercises such as burpees, squats, cleans, lunges, push-ups, step-ups and pull-ups should make up the majority of your workout routine and they’re really going to be the best exercises to lose belly fat. It’s really a shame to see people waste their money on an ab informercial gadget that doesn’t do anything but make them look silly.

In this world there really aren’t any shortcuts to success and the same holds true for losing the belly fat. First of all make sure you’re on a great nutrition program such as the one found in the Flat Belly Formula and make sure you stick to the program consistently.

Then you can start taking care of the workout routine by doing mostly full body resistance training and high intensity interval training. Heavily incorporate both of those training principles into your workouts 4-5 times per week and you should see the fat to start melting off.

And then you can start to narrow in on your stomach to tone up and lean out the midsection. I’m not going to B.S. you and tell you that sit-ups and crunches are a complete waste of time because they aren’t.

They will help tone up your abs but there are other exercises out there that are a lot more effective at getting results than doing sit-ups all day. In the video below I’m demonstrating my favorite abdominal focused exercise to lose belly fat.

Video On The Best Exercises To Lose Belly Fat

The plank is really one of the simplest exercises in the world and it’s also in my humble opinion the absolute best frickin’ ab exercise out there. If you’re looking for the best fat burning exercise then I wouldn’t consider this to be it but if you’re looking for abdominal toning then this is the winner of a chicken dinner.

There are a ton of different variations you can do with the plank and I only really touched on a few of them in this video. The key is going to be to start with the most basic version and then keep progressing to more difficult variations so you can challenging your body into delivering results.

I wouldn’t recommend holding a plank for 5 minutes when you start to become more advanced because that’ll be wasting your time. Instead try using one of the variations I’ve included above and also try to throw this plank exercise into the end of one of your workout sets.

The Best Exercises To Lose Belly Fat: Example Tri-Set Routine

A1: Pull-ups

This way you will still be able to train your abdominals while you are “resting” before you go to your next set up pull-ups. This is a great way to catch your breath before your next set and you’ll also be doing something instead of just standing there watching TV or talking to your fellow gym buddies.

If you’re interested in a full belly fat blasting workout routine then I highly recommend taking a look at my Ultimate Ab Workout video blog post. I don’t do any sit-ups or traditional crunches in the workout but you’ll still get a great ab workout that’ll help you lose belly fat.

The best exercises to lose belly fat are usually the most primitive full body movements as they’ll not only burn fat but they’ll also build more lean muscle. And we all know that lean muscle is going to burn more fat as well so the more the marrier.

Josh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition Science. He’s a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He’s worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the high school and college level. He has over 10 years experience as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. He is also the author of The Flat Belly Formula. He hopes to be able to bring inspiration & results to people all over the world to live a healthier life through diet & exercise.

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When we change our diets and commit to a fitness routine, we start to see a difference in our bodies’ tone. That’s because weight loss looks different for everyone. While some instantly see a less puffy face, others see it in their backends first. However, one of the most stubborn and tricky areas to lose fat is our stomachs. Though each person is unique, most of us will struggle to lose belly fat as we blow out more birthday candles every year. Rather than logging more hours on the treadmill or only eating salads for every meal, we’ve determined a few lifestyle hacks can help you win the battle against a muffin top once and for all.

Here are our top tips on how to lose belly fat straight from doctors, and for more healthy tips, check out our list of 21 Best Healthy Cooking Hacks of All Time.

Practice intermittent fasting.

Have you ever wondered what belly fat is made of? And why it’s some of the most stubborn cells to flatten in our bodies? Certified nutritionist and author Dr. Daryl Gioffre explains there are two types of belly fat: visceral and subcutaneous fat. As defined, visceral fat forms inside our abdominal cavity around the organs. Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, develops under the skin—and is exceedingly difficult to get rid of, according to Dr. Gioffre.

And most of us are familiar with subcutaneous fat since it creates the muffin top or the ‘bleg’, which is the fat that collects in our hips and upper thigh, where our butt meets our leg. The reason that this type of fat is tricky to part with is due to the cells having two types of alpha receptors: adrenaline and noradrenaline which hinder a fat cell’s ability to be burned. It has fewer beta receptors, which is what allows us to use fat to burn energy, and thus, drop pounds.

One way to cut through the excess weight is to practice intermittent fasting. It’s trendy right now, but likely because it’s effective, Dr. Gioffre raves. “The good news is that when you go for longer than about twelve hours without eating, the resulting drop in insulin levels activates more beta receptors in the subcutaneous fat. This accelerates the loss of belly fat, as well as helping your body burn fat from these troublesome areas for energy,” he says.

To practice intermittent fasting, he suggests trying out his three-hour rule. This means no eating of any kind before you go to sleep. So, if you finish dinner by 8 p.m. and have breakfast at 8 a.m., you complete a 12-hour fast. “Most of that time was spent sleeping, which makes the fast, and the associated belly-fat loss that will follow, that much easier to attain,” he says.

Limit alcohol consumption.

Though a nice pour of your favorite red wine or a perfectly-crafted cocktail is much needed sometimes, moderation is key. When you boil it down to chemistry, alcohol is, well, sugar. And all of that sweet stuff hangs around in your mid-section, according to board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Sterry. As he explains, consuming drinks high in sugar (like booze, soft drinks, and juices) will lead to rapid weight gain.

“Unfortunately, we can’t choose where all the extra weight ends up, and for some reason, the body tends to accumulate fat in the abdominal area,” he says.

Another reason alcohol is bad news for our stomachs? When we’re drinking, we naturally start to get the munchies since it stimulates our appetites, Dr. Sterry shares. Since most people drink at nighttime, this means we reach for greasy, fried foods before bed, which doesn’t give us an opportunity to burn off the added calories.

Cut out refined carbs and added sugar.

Repeat this: carbs are not the enemy. But also, not all carbohydrates are equal.

As OB-GYN and double-board certified functional medicine doctor Dr. Renee Wellsenstein explains, refined carbs are diet sabotagers because they don’t offer the same benefits as good carbohydrates, which provide our body with energy. A refined carb would consist of your go-to fast food orders, white rice, white flour, pastries, pasta, pizzas, desserts, and cereals.

“Providing very little vitamins and minerals, the body processes refined carbs quickly and don’t deliver lasting energy,” Dr. Wellsenstein says. “More notably, these foods are stripped of fiber. And fiber is essential in not only promoting a healthy gut microbiome—which aids in weight loss—but also promotes satiety, meaning eating less food and less frequently.”

Swap out those refined bad guys for the good ones with high-carb healthy superstars like quinoa, buckwheat, sweet potatoes, beets, blueberries, and whole-grain or gluten-free oats. You can also add in these 24 Best Healthy Carbs To Eat For Weight Loss.

Keep exercise consistent.

One of the most common myths about losing belly fat, according to Dr. Sterry, is that you need to run a marathon for it to be effective. This isn’t true since the key is consistency and movement. Modest exercise—including going for a long walk—will help to both burn calories and keep a more lean body mass.

However, fitness on its own will never result in meeting your goals. In fact, Dr. Sterry says no matter how much of a sweat you work up, you can’t erase a bad diet.

“The average person doesn’t have the time or ability to burn enough calories through exercise to reduce their weight without a little bit of diet modification. Most of us have full lives, and we can’t spend hours in the gym when we have so many obligations to work, family, or school. It’s simply not realistic,” he says.

Reduce stress and prioritize sleep.

When we’re asleep, our bodies do all of the hard repair work from the day. So when we aren’t able to reap the benefits of shut-eye, our system will retaliate against us, making it more difficult to lose weight. That’s why Dr. Sterry says prioritizing meditation, mindfulness, and bedtime will reduce our sleep levels and result in better rest.

“There are many good hormones secreted during sleep that promote healing. It is a surprisingly important part of a healthy lifestyle,” he says.

Mimic the Mediterranean diet.

Even if you can’t jet set to southern Europe right now, you can take after the Greek and Italians and copy their diet to beat belly fat. Dr. Wellsenstein says this includes increased consumption of healthy fats like avocados, nuts, olive oils, and vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. According to one study, those who follow this eating regimen long-term showed a notable decrease in waistlines. Plus, did you know that the Mediterranean diet is the Best Diet for Weight Loss?

Maintaining a trim midsection does more than make you look great—it can help you live longer. Larger waistlines are linked to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. Losing weight, especially belly fat, also improves blood vessel functioning and also improves sleep quality.

It’s impossible to target belly fat specifically when you diet. But losing weight overall will help shrink your waistline; more importantly, it will help reduce the dangerous layer of visceral fat, a type of fat within the abdominal cavity that you can’t see but that heightens health risks, says Kerry Stewart, Ed.D. , director of Clinical and Research Physiology at Johns Hopkins.

Here’s how to whittle down where it matters most.

Try curbing carbs instead of fats.

When Johns Hopkins researchers compared the effects on the heart of losing weight through a low-carbohydrate diet versus a low-fat diet for six months—each containing the same amount of calories—those on a low-carb diet lost an average of 10 pounds more than those on a low-fat diet—28.9 pounds versus 18.7 pounds. An extra benefit of the low-carb diet is that it produced a higher quality of weight loss, Stewart says. With weight loss, fat is reduced, but there is also often a loss of lean tissue (muscle), which is not desirable. On both diets, there was a loss of about 2 to 3 pounds of good lean tissue along with the fat, which means that the fat loss percentage was much higher on the low-carb diet.

Think eating plan, not diet.

Ultimately, you need to pick a healthy eating plan you can stick to, Stewart says. The benefit of a low-carb approach is that it simply involves learning better food choices—no calorie-counting is necessary. In general, a low-carb way of eating shifts your intake away from problem foods—those high in carbs and sugar and without much fiber, like bread, bagels and sodas—and toward high-fiber or high-protein choices, like vegetables, beans and healthy meats.

Keep moving.

Physical activity helps burn abdominal fat. “One of the biggest benefits of exercise is that you get a lot of bang for your buck on body composition,” Stewart says. Exercise seems to work off belly fat in particular because it reduces circulating levels of insulin —which would otherwise signal the body to hang on to fat—and causes the liver to use up fatty acids, especially those nearby visceral fat deposits, he says.

The amount of exercise you need for weight loss depends on your goals. For most people, this can mean 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise nearly every day.

Lift weights.

Adding even moderate strength training to aerobic exercise helps build lean muscle mass, which causes you to burn more calories throughout the entire day, both at rest and during exercise.

Become a label reader.

Compare and contrast brands. Some yogurts, for example, boast that they’re low in fat, but they’re higher in carbs and added sugars than others, Stewart says. Foods like gravy, mayonnaise, sauces and salad dressings often contain high amounts of fat and lots of calories.

Move away from processed foods.

The ingredients in packaged goods and snack foods are often heavy on trans fats, added sugar and added salt or sodium—three things that make it difficult to lose weight.

Focus on the way your clothes fit more than reading a scale.

As you add muscle mass and lose fat, the reading on your bathroom scale may not change much, but your pants will be looser. That’s a better mark of progress. Measured around, your waistline should be less than 35 inches if you’re a woman or less than 40 inches if you’re a man to reduce heart and diabetes risks.

Hang out with health-focused friends.

Research shows that you’re more apt to eat better and exercise more if your friends and family are doing the same.

Definitions

Losing Weight Leads to Heart Health

A diet that’s low in fat and carbohydrates can improve artery function, according to a 2012 study by Johns Hopkins researchers. After six months, those on the low-carb diet had lost more weight, and at a faster pace. But in both groups, when weight was lost—and especially when belly fat shrank—the arteries were able to expand better, allowing blood to travel more freely. The study shows that you don’t have to cut out all dietary fat to shrink belly fat. For heart health, simply losing weight and exercising seems to be key.

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First and foremost, excess belly fat is neither healthy nor is it good for your appearance. In fact, belly fat that’s deep inside you, is associated with an increased risk of health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, high blood pressure, and some cancers. Consequently, it is a worthwhile goal to lose some, if not a lot of that fat. Therefore, some of the most effective ways to do that are described below.

Now, the most important factor in losing belly fat is what and how much you eat. So, go on a diet that is not only healthy but also helps you lose fat.

Proteins

First, include more proteins in your diet. Indeed, proteins help reduce levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. As a result, you feel full while eating less. Furthermore, studies have found that people who eat a protein-rich diet have less abdominal fat than those who don’t. So, the next time you’re cooking or eating, make sure to include good protein sources, such as the ones listed below.

• Chicken or turkey
• Lean beef or pork
• Fish such as tuna or salmon
• Quinoa, chickpeas
• Beans
• Eggs
• Nuts, especially almonds or walnuts
• Greek yogurt or cottage cheese

Carbs

Next, several studies have found that simply replacing refined carbs with unprocessed starchy carbs can improve your metabolic health and help you get rid of belly fat.

Fiber

Also, eat lots of food with high fiber content. By the way, soluble fiber can help you lose weight by making you feel full. Examples of foods with high fiber content include the ones below.

• Fruits like berries, citrus, or bananas.
• Vegetables like kale, spinach, or carrots.
• Legumes like beans.
• Whole grains like brown rice or bread made from whole grains.

Others

Meanwhile, other eating habits you can make to help reduce fat include the ones below.

• First, replace your vegetable oils with coconut, avocado, or olive oil.
• Next, eat more fatty fish that are high in Omega-3s. Examples of such fish include wild salmon, sardines, albacore tuna, mussels, oysters, rainbow trout, and Pacific halibut.
• Also, include apple cider vinegar in your diet.
• Meanwhile, eat probiotic foods.
• Or, give intermittent fasting a try.
• Next, drink green tea, particularly first thing in the morning.
• In addition, cut back on your salt intake.
• Most of all significantly cut back on portions of sugary foods such as sweets, pastries, and desserts.

Weight-Loss Diets

By the way, according to the U.S. News and World report for 2019, the best overall diet for fast weight loss is the Keto diet followed by the Atkins diet.

On the other hand, the best overall diet is the Mediterranean diet followed by the DASH diet.

So, tailor these diets, as necessary, based on recommendations listed above.

Drinks

Next, avoid sugary drinks. In fact, sugar might just be the main culprit for your belly fat. Furthermore, studies show that sugar can lead to increased accumulation of belly fat. Moreover, sugar-sweetened drinks like juices and sodas contain large amounts of fructose that have devastating effects on your waistline.

Instead, drink enough water. Moreover, staying well hydrated is not only important to keep your metabolism functioning at its peak, but also help lose weight.

Lastly, cut back on your alcohol consumption.

Exercise

Next increase your activity level by aerobic exercises like walking, running, or swimming, to name a few. In fact, studies show that such workouts can help reduce belly fat. Meanwhile, other studies also show that short burst of high-intensity workouts are more effective at reducing belly fat than exercising at a steady pace. So, do short bursts of high-intensity workouts followed by longer but less intense recovery intervals. For example, start a walk at a slow pace for a few minutes. Next, walk as fast as you can for 10 minutes. Now, walk at a slower pace where you are not huffing and puffing for the next 15 minutes. Finally, repeat the sequence for 30 to 45 minutes.

Regrettably, in today’s fast paced lifestyle, everyone doesn’t have that much time to spend on aerobics like walking, jogging, bicycling, and others. Or, the changing weather may prevent you from getting outside. So, for these and potentially other reasons, aerobics may end up taking a back seat in your efforts to lose belly fat.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. For example, desk pedal exercisers let you get some workout while sitting at a desk in the office or at home. Moreover, you can spend hours at a time doing things that you normally do while sitting and at the same time burn calories with these exercisers. Furthermore, a recent study reported that moving frequently is the best thing for your health.

Finally, if you can, strengthen your muscles to build muscle mass. In fact, building muscles is among the best exercises to lose belly fat. Because, the greater your muscle mass the more fat gets burned even when you are not working out.

Stress

Next, stress increases levels of the hormone cortisol. And, research shows that high cortisol levels boost levels of the hormone ghrelin in blood. Furthermore, increasing levels of ghrelin increases your appetite as well as promoting abdominal fat storage. So, if you find yourself under stress, find ways to minimize it .

Sleep

Finally, studies show that people who don’t get enough sleep tend to gain more weight. In fact, this weight gain is due to hormonal imbalances that sleep deprivation causes. For example, not getting adequate sleep increases your stress, which, in turn, increases levels of the hormone cortisol. So, if getting enough sleep is a problem, take steps to remedy it .

Takeaway

Most of all, if you stay with your efforts, you will start seeing results when you weigh yourself after a few weeks if not sooner. By the way, when you start losing weight, belly fat usually goes away first. Get a Ketogenic Diet in Singapore with Carbs For Keto!

Belly Fat is very common to hear nowadays which is highly harmful and makes you really worried about your most fit-ons. It is not only ugly in eyes but also quite dangerous with threat to type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and more unhealthy conditions. So it is important to lose belly fat which leads you to a healthier life style. Then get the smart tips which are backed by scientific studies making you more confirmed with the result.

What is your move to lose Belly Fat?

Take soluble Fiber as much as possible

Soluble Fiber could absorb more water and make a gel to slow down food pass through the digestive system. Making you eat less naturally, this helps in losing weight. So eat high-fiber food and fight belly fat.

Reduce Trans Fats

The high consumption of Trans fat increase belly fat expansion. These fats could leave you with heart diseases, inflammation, insulin resistance and more bad health conditions. So try to distance yourself from products that contain Trans-fat to lose belly fat and stay healthy.

Say “NO” to too much Alcohol

Alcohol too brings advantages to your health, but a very little. So consuming too much Alcohol is one way you destroy yourself. And one most visible disadvantage of Alcohol is gaining belly fat. Although you cannot make your mind to totally give up on that, you better limit the number of glasses per day to stay healthier.

High Protein Diet

For weight control, Protein is essential. With high intake of protein, it releases PYY, the fullness hormone. So it can drop down the appetite naturally while improving fullness of the body. So never miss to add enough protein in every meal you take and complete get away from belly fat troubles.

Eat less Sugary Food

For weight gain, excess use of Sugar is highly responsible. So for increase of abdominal fat, high sugar consumption is one major reason. So limit what you pay for candy, chocolates and more sweets if you want to stay healthy and fit.

Control the stress levels

Over-Stress could make you gain belly fat as it trigger the adrenal glands to produce more cortisol, which is stress hormone. That results more appetite making you take more meals a day. So try to take your mind away from stress and engage in more activities. This would reduce your stress and will keep your body healthy.

Do Training in a regular way

Strong training which can defined as strength training and weight lifting is very important to take into your life style in order to gain muscle mass. So take resistance training and get away from Belly Fat issue.

Track your Diets and do Exercise

There are many things you can do to stay healthy and happy. So one most working way is monitoring what you eat and do exercises. So make a habit to track what you eat and how much activities you do. If you take more calories, you need more workouts a day. So this will bring solution to a number of health issues including Belly fat.

The End

To lose Belly Fat, you have a lot of things including some super supports tricks above mentioned. And weight loss and health management definitely need some commitment. So choose what fits the most and reach your lifestyle goals.

Are you wanting to lose some extra inches in your stomach region?

Many people begin their weight loss journey hopeful, excited for a smooth stomach, but they have a hard time losing stubborn belly fat. Others wonder whether or not it will take them a long time.

So, how long does it usually take someone to lose belly fat?

Below, we’ll go into the details of getting rid of stubborn fat and getting tighter skin. Keep reading to learn more below!

What Is Belly Fat?

The first step to understanding how to lose belly fat is knowing what that fat is.

When you eat, your digestive system converts your food into energy, which the body then either spends or stores. If you have a reasonably active lifestyle, a fast-working metabolism, or a balanced diet, you might burn off most of your calories. When you don’t use the calories, though, they get stored for later use as fat.

Stomach fat exists in 2 places: right under your skin and around your organs (the latter is known as visceral fat). Fat itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Having a healthy amount of it keeps you warm, cushions your organs, and gives you backup energy for when you’ve burned through all of your calories.

In fact, everyone has at least some fat, no matter their size.

Still, having too much belly fat negatively impacts your health. It has been attributed to type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and dementia. To avoid these health conditions, you should manage your belly fat.

How Do You Lose Belly Fat?

But how do you go about losing belly fat, and how long will it take you?

Let’s talk about the different methods in this section. By following one of the options below, you will make sure your fat stays manageable and within the healthy range.

Eating a Healthy Diet

Think of dieting as making a concerted effort to eat well.

There are many ways to go about this, but a lot of people find it helpful to consume foods that have a lower caloric density. This simply means these foods contain fewer calories per their volume or weight. Foods that have a high caloric usually give you more calories for less food, giving your body more energy to store as fat while not filling you up.

Foods with lower caloric density, on the other hand, allow you to eat more without consuming too many calories. Some examples of low caloric density foods include grapes, watermelons, and many other fruits and vegetables.

You should also practice portion control and seek to eat more protein, as this assists with fat loss.

Exercise

If fat is energy stored in your body, then one of the best ways to remove it is by burning extra energy. Usually, people do this by exercising.

In particular, if you want to lose weight, you should elevate your heart rate. The higher your heart rate, the more fat you burn. Many exercises get your heart pumping, such as walking, running, dancing, or swimming. If you want to get your heart going, then, find whichever activity you prefer and start doing it on a regular basis.

Start Strength Training

Did you know that practicing strength training helps you lose fat? In fact, it helps you lose visceral fat, which is some of the most dangerous fat.

But what is strength training?

Most people use the term to refer to lifting weights, which engages a variety of your muscles, including your arms, pectoral muscles, abs, shoulders, and legs. Strength training also helps your body appear more toned, which will tighten skin and your stomach.

Because of the many benefits of lifting weights, gyms keep them on hand for patrons to use. You can also purchase weights for your home if you prefer to work out there.

Research Clinical Fat Loss

Many other people seek out clinical solutions to their stubborn fat and weight loss.

Those for whom weight loss hasn’t worked or who face extreme health risks due to their weight should consider bariatric surgery. Some bariatric procedures how much food you can eat, well others limit how much people can eat, causing you to lose weight.

If you want to get rid of stubborn belly fat, you can also visit a med spa in San Diego. These medical facilities often offer a variety of fat loss options, ranging from liposuction to fat freezing.

Our medical spa gives you a different experience, focusing on being non-invasive. Unlike liposuction or surgeries, we don’t use needles or incisions, eliminating the need for anesthetics or downtime after your procedure. In addition, unlike fat freezing, our procedure doesn’t cause pain or leave any visible signs of your procedure.

Instead, we employ a pulsing ultrasound to your skin. This ultrasound is on the cutting edge of fat removal technology, and it destroys your fat, reducing its presence in your body.

Of course, any of these methods become most effective when they are paired with healthy eating, exercising, and strength training.

How Long Does It Take to Lose Belly Fat?

So, how long will it take you to lose belly fat?

You have to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat. So, if you want to lose a pound of belly fat in a week, you will need to cut out 500 calories a day from your diet. You may be able to do it faster if you pair reducing your calories with exercise. Because of this, when people lose their belly fat in this way, it can take them quite a while to do so.

The exact length of time to get to a flat belly varies based on how much weight a person needs to lose and how seriously they take their new exercise and dietary lifestyle.

When it comes to ultrasounds, most people see their final results in between 6-12 weeks. This is because it takes some time for your body to break down the fat. Still, because most other fat elimination techniques take quite some time, it is still a quick way to lose fat.

Want to Get Rid of Your Belly Fat?

So, do you want to lose belly fat?

If you do, there are plenty of different ways to do so. You can eat a healthy diet, exercise, do strength training, and get clinical fat removal. Our ultrasounds are some of the fastest ways to get results the you want.

Ready to get rid of your belly fat? Contact us today!

All our practitioners are medical professionals with extensive experience and training on every device we use in the spa. Dr. Brunst has written on many topics including understanding anti-aging and his anti-aging program from his Brunst Lifestyle Institute.

Maintaining a trim midsection does more than make you look great—it can help you live longer. Larger waistlines are linked to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. Losing weight, especially belly fat, also improves blood vessel functioning and also improves sleep quality.

It’s impossible to target belly fat specifically when you diet. But losing weight overall will help shrink your waistline; more importantly, it will help reduce the dangerous layer of visceral fat, a type of fat within the abdominal cavity that you can’t see but that heightens health risks, says Kerry Stewart, Ed.D. , director of Clinical and Research Physiology at Johns Hopkins.

Here’s how to whittle down where it matters most.

Try curbing carbs instead of fats.

When Johns Hopkins researchers compared the effects on the heart of losing weight through a low-carbohydrate diet versus a low-fat diet for six months—each containing the same amount of calories—those on a low-carb diet lost an average of 10 pounds more than those on a low-fat diet—28.9 pounds versus 18.7 pounds. An extra benefit of the low-carb diet is that it produced a higher quality of weight loss, Stewart says. With weight loss, fat is reduced, but there is also often a loss of lean tissue (muscle), which is not desirable. On both diets, there was a loss of about 2 to 3 pounds of good lean tissue along with the fat, which means that the fat loss percentage was much higher on the low-carb diet.

Think eating plan, not diet.

Ultimately, you need to pick a healthy eating plan you can stick to, Stewart says. The benefit of a low-carb approach is that it simply involves learning better food choices—no calorie-counting is necessary. In general, a low-carb way of eating shifts your intake away from problem foods—those high in carbs and sugar and without much fiber, like bread, bagels and sodas—and toward high-fiber or high-protein choices, like vegetables, beans and healthy meats.

Keep moving.

Physical activity helps burn abdominal fat. “One of the biggest benefits of exercise is that you get a lot of bang for your buck on body composition,” Stewart says. Exercise seems to work off belly fat in particular because it reduces circulating levels of insulin —which would otherwise signal the body to hang on to fat—and causes the liver to use up fatty acids, especially those nearby visceral fat deposits, he says.

The amount of exercise you need for weight loss depends on your goals. For most people, this can mean 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise nearly every day.

Lift weights.

Adding even moderate strength training to aerobic exercise helps build lean muscle mass, which causes you to burn more calories throughout the entire day, both at rest and during exercise.

Become a label reader.

Compare and contrast brands. Some yogurts, for example, boast that they’re low in fat, but they’re higher in carbs and added sugars than others, Stewart says. Foods like gravy, mayonnaise, sauces and salad dressings often contain high amounts of fat and lots of calories.

Move away from processed foods.

The ingredients in packaged goods and snack foods are often heavy on trans fats, added sugar and added salt or sodium—three things that make it difficult to lose weight.

Focus on the way your clothes fit more than reading a scale.

As you add muscle mass and lose fat, the reading on your bathroom scale may not change much, but your pants will be looser. That’s a better mark of progress. Measured around, your waistline should be less than 35 inches if you’re a woman or less than 40 inches if you’re a man to reduce heart and diabetes risks.

Hang out with health-focused friends.

Research shows that you’re more apt to eat better and exercise more if your friends and family are doing the same.

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Losing Weight Leads to Heart Health

A diet that’s low in fat and carbohydrates can improve artery function, according to a 2012 study by Johns Hopkins researchers. After six months, those on the low-carb diet had lost more weight, and at a faster pace. But in both groups, when weight was lost—and especially when belly fat shrank—the arteries were able to expand better, allowing blood to travel more freely. The study shows that you don’t have to cut out all dietary fat to shrink belly fat. For heart health, simply losing weight and exercising seems to be key.